Ann's Trip Report
September 2001

Hi All,

Well I am not very good at this type of thing but I will give it a try.

Sat. Sept 8th we all got up around 3:30am to get to the airport by5am for our flight at 6am. No problems here evrything ent smoothe and the kids really liked the flight. We arived in Orlando around 11:30am and got our van (rented through budget online at Hotwire.com). So off to Down Town Disney for a lunch at Rainforest Cafe. We got there and only had about a 15 min wait till we were seated (No PS for us I did not make one the whole time we were there). Had a great meal where my 2 kids enjoyed the animals (Brenden still 6 to turn 7 on thurs. and Erin 4)and the food they opted for the Pizza and dh and I had the Chicken fried steak with garlic mashed potatoes and a vegie colsaw (which by the way was just wonderfull). We finished our meal and made our way to leggo island (?) and ds decided to spend some disney dollars on ( by the way this got left behind in our haste to get out of orlando so now I have to find another)a robot in a tube. We then left to go and check into our hotel.

We were booked through internet at Ramada Inn Maine Gate in Kissimmee and online thier site they looked great. But to our dismay when we arived and got into our room they seemed clean but our first room had no seal around the door . I called the Front desk and requested another room and they gave us one. It was on the other side in another building and still clean but had part of the seal missing at the bottom of the door. We both decided (DH and I) that this was better then the other room and brought the luggage up. We settled in a bit and every one felt hungry again so we went to find a place to eat and ended up at the Longhorn in Kissimmee kinda a Tex mex fair but Very Good especiall the dessert I had a Fried cheese cake that was out of this world. Now we go back to the room and I notice that as we come around the corner to our room some animal droppings, now I am thinking ok we have a varmit in our room that came in under the door but I found nothing. I didn't sleep well at all that night and vowed to tell Dh in the am that we are outa HERE!

Ok today after not sleeping well in our little dump we chose I got up at 7am turned on the Tv with low volume until dh woke up so I could tell him what I was planning to do. He awoke and I told him I was going to call the Disney club to see what I could do to get us another room. He was not hesitant and agreed with me. I have to say I got the nicest CM (Althea) , and when I told her of my dilemma she started to work her magic for us she found that the Allstar Music had room for us for the rest of our stay. As she tried to enter it into the computer it was telling her that there was no room for the first night so she put me on hold while she checked to see what the problem was. Meanwhile DH went to the front desk to tell them how unhappy we were with our room and that we would be checking out this am. , they gave us no problems at all. Then Althea came back with the best news of the day she had talked to a CRO person and got us the $49/ night rate for our whole stay!! WooHoo WTG Althea!! By getting this rate we did not have to spend anymore than we had hope to spend per night. With a BIG thanks to Althea I hung Up and dh and I took the luggage to the car. Off to ASMU we went. The line for check in was short had to wait maybe 5 min. , got or room cards and then went to the food court for some breakfast and refillable mugs. Then it was off to our room to put our bags away for the day ( we did not even have to wait for a room to come available at 4pm got a non smoking one way in the back building #4 but we did not care) and drove to MK for the am. so as not to waist anymore time. Belive it or not it was only 9:30 by the time we got to the TTC (way cool ). Mk was very crowded but we knew we would have other chances to come back if we missed too much because of the crowds. As we walked up main street my kids were just so happy and the expressions on their faces were worth every cent we had spent to get here. We got a family picture taken in front of the castle ( it turned out great) and proceeded to Fantasyland and as I suspected lines were way to long. But dd wanted to see ariel so we waited in line while ds and dh went off on their own for a while. It was hot but worth the wait to see dd's face when she saw her. Then after that we came out just in time to catch Legend of the Lion King. When we cam out it was pouring rain so we had to get ponchos as we left ours in the van. Kids loved this too much they wanted to stay and watch again hehe. But mom made them move on, we went to Liberty Square and got a drink atColumbia Harbor House and to soak up some AC as we were sweating heavy now. After some rest and AC we went to the Haunted Mansion. Only a 10 min wait was up on the sign. DD (she is 4yrs.) was not so crazy about this while we were on the ride but once we got off she bragged that she went on it hehe. once off we all were starting to feel a little hungry so off to Frontierland for Turkey legs ( we only bought 2 and shared) Very tasty Yummm. We walked as we ate and stopped to watch the raft going back and forth to Tom Sawer Island. Then walked over to Big Thunder Mountain RailRoad, again only a 10 min wait. both dd and Ds (61/2 turns 7 on thurs. while at WDW) loved it. Ds wanted to do splash mountain but dd said no way so Hubby and ds went while we Just hung out and watched the big splash. When they were done we went to the Jungle Cruise and I had to tell the kids maybe 3 times that these were not real animals hehe. Now they were tired and we wanted to go to epcot this evening to try and find other MFL members for TON so it was off for a short rest before dinner at Epcot in China ( the name escapes me now hehe oh well I am sure you all probably know) for some great chinese food. We had no wait and did not have a PS, but the kids ate very slow and we did not make it to find anyone when we came out TON was in progress but had a nice front row spot so the kids got some interaction. When that was over we just found a great spot to park the stroller and sit on a bench. Here we mat some kids (or teenagers) from Ireland and they had some fun with ours and taught them a little step so they were dancing the whole time before the fire works. Tomorrow we plan a whole day here at Epcot.

Day 3
9-10-01

Woke up early today but of course everyone else is sleeping. But is was not long before every one was up and dressed. We drove up front instead of walking to the food court to save time. Got some fruit and doughnuts, refilled our mugs and off we went. The kids decided on Animal Kingdom instead of Epcot which was fine by me we still have 3 more days to enjoy it. we parked and rode the tram up not a long ride as the lots were still pretty empty. Got inside and had our family picture taken with the tree of life in the background (looked great). Then headed strait for the safari it had a 10 min wait sign so we went on it. The kids really loved this my son asked as we were waiting in line if they were in cages and was very pleased to hear that they were not. After that we went to camp Mickey for some autographs and pictures, while finishing one and trying to decide which one was next a CM saw that our son had his Birthday badge on. He led him over to where there were a lot of people standing around to get poohs autograph and asked for every ones attention. Then he had them sing happy birthday to him while he stood on a bench and to them that his friend Brenden and he were going to have lunch sometime today at Dennys. It was so cute and he loved all of the attention. Then we went to see the Lion King show no wait to get in and they were just about to begin, we loved it but man was it hot in there, we dripped sweat the whole time. Next they wanted to do the dino ride so we started to walk over and saw the drummer with chip and dale and got a cute pick of our son dancing with them. When we got there we were all hungry again so it was time to go in for some McDonalds fries and a drink along with some needed AC. On the dino ride dd was scared but not as much as the day before in the haunted mansion. When we got off the ride and into the gift shop the cashier CM saw Brenden's pin and drew a picture of him riding a dinosaur that was VERY good! I think this was probably the best keepsake of the whole trip! Tarzan Rocks was next Wow what a show, while in there it began to pour rain and guess where our ponchos were, Ugh in the stroller! So we got a bit wt and went back to the ASMU for a shower and clean dry clothes. For dinner to night we drove over to Universal to eat at the Hard Rock Cafe ( by the way there is no parking fee after 6pm if you want to check it out). Then back to ASMU for bed.

Day 4
9-11-01

We were all up early today and for some reason dressed and ready to go by 7:30am. So we decided to drive over to Kissimmee for breakfast at the Waffle House ( DH's Favorite) OK food at a good price for all 4 of us it was under $20 with tip. With full bellies we were ready to go, we decided on Epcot. Got there and got a good parking place and did not need to ride the tram. we went first to test track but ds chickened out at the last min do dh rode alone. this morning the park was not very full and we had no Idea what events had happened as we got to the park right about 9:30am we had done 3 rides and were coming out of the movie at the Lands pavilion when we were told that they were closing the park. I told my Dh that something was very wrong as we made our way to drop off the stroller because they have only closed the parks 1 other time since they have been open. My kids did not say much to us except why were we leaving and I told them that something was wrong and that the people at WDW wanted all of us to be safe. Where we were dropping off the stroller we asked and all they would tell us was that there was a terrorist act in NEW York. We went out and opted to skip the long line to get a new ticket ( got on the next day at customer service) We just wanted to get to our room. When we arrived we watched only a little bit of TV as we did not want the kids to be exposed to all of it and got them ready for swimming and headed to the food court for lunch. Later that evening they had chariters in the lobby hall area for pictures and autographs and coloring sheets with colors for the kids, also some DJ in the food court later for the older kids. We had a pizza for dinner in our room ( it was pretty good too) and bath time before bed. They had a nice message for us this evening about the parks being open tomorrow. I stayed up late as the others slept to watch TV and see what was going on and fell asleep.

Day 5 9-12-01

Today we got up early and went to the food court for breakfast just fruit and drinks today, then it was off to MGM. First place the kids wanted to go to was Mupet 3-D vision, it was so cute to watch the kids trying to reach out for stuff. As we came out dd's favorite characters were at Al's Toy Barn we waited about 30 minutes to get our pictures and autographs. Then off to star tours and then too Indiana Jones show and the great movie ride. We went to Pizza Planet for lunch it was a big hit with the kids (small but they loved it). Then as we finished it was raining so we did some shopping until it quit. We then went for the TOT which ds said he just had to do so dd and I went to the Hunchback. Wile they were getting ready to ride TOT he got sang to again Happy Birthday on TOT then the big Drop I wish I had gone to get a picture of it hehe. We also did the Disney animation tour I had never done this before and I think maybe I was the only one who enjoyed it . Then dd had to do the Ariel show this was great for her she just kept so quiet and all of a sudden so every one could hear her she shouted there she is mommy there she is! Today we ate dinner at Captain Nemos in Kissimmee all you can eat sea food it was good dh had 4 lobsters and I ate 2 WOW!